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I published On the Origin of Species on 24 November 1859. The first edition of 1,250 copies sold out on the day of publication. I had been delaying for twenty years — twenty years of accumulating evidence, breeding pigeons, conducting experiments on seeds, writing letters to botanists and geologists on every continent.

I delayed because I knew what I was saying. I knew that natural selection, operating on random variation over immense periods of time, was sufficient to explain the diversity of life without a designer. I knew this would be received as an attack on religion, on man's special place in creation, on everything comfortable.

The opening words were carefully chosen: 'When on board H.M.S. Beagle...' I wanted to establish that this was not speculation. This was thirty years of work. The book changed what it means to be human. I am not sure I was ready for that when I wrote it.